In short
In Germany, recording a conversation without the other people's agreement can be a criminal offence, even when you are one of the people talking. §201 of the Strafgesetzbuch (StGB), the German Criminal Code, protects the confidentiality of the spoken word — die Vertraulichkeit des Wortes.
On top of that sits the GDPR, which applies to any recording made for work.
That is why the working rule for any call with German participants is to ask, out loud, at the start: "I'd like to record this for my notes. Is that all right?" — and to not record if anyone says no. This guide explains what the law says and where the grey areas are. For the wider picture across countries, see is it legal to record a meeting?
What §201 StGB says
§201 StGB (checked 25 September 2026) makes it an offence, punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or a fine, to do any of the following without authorisation (unbefugt):
- record another person's non-public spoken word (das nichtöffentlich gesprochene Wort) on a sound carrier;
- use such a recording, or make it available to a third party;
- listen in with a listening device on non-public spoken words not intended for you;
- publicly disclose the recorded or overheard words, verbatim or in substance, where that is liable to harm someone's legitimate interests.
The attempt is also punishable, and recording equipment can be confiscated. For office-holders with special public duties the maximum is five years.
Three features matter for meetings.
It protects the words, not the line. Unlike interception laws aimed at people tapping calls from outside, §201(1) is about recording someone's words. Being a participant does not by itself make your recording authorised.
"Unbefugt" is the hinge. A recording is unauthorised unless something justifies it. The other person's agreement is the ordinary justification. Other justifications exist in narrow situations, and courts weigh them case by case; they are not something to plan a routine around.
Using and passing on a recording are offences too. Even if you did not make it, playing someone else's recording to a third party or sending it on can fall under the same section.
It is prosecuted on complaint
Under §205 StGB, offences under §201(1) and (2) are prosecuted only on application (Antrag) — in practice, when the person recorded complains. That does not make an unauthorised recording lawful. It means the risk usually arises exactly when a relationship has gone wrong, which is also when a recording is most likely to be used.
What counts as non-public
A conversation is non-public when it is not directed at, or accessible to, the general public. A call between a few colleagues or with a client, a job interview or an invitation-only video meeting is the kind of conversation generally understood to be non-public. A public lecture or a livestreamed event generally is not. Large internal meetings sit in between. Where your meeting falls is a question for a lawyer, not for this table:
| Meeting | Usually treated as |
|---|---|
| Phone or video call with one client | Non-public |
| Internal team meeting on Teams or Zoom | Non-public |
| Job interview | Non-public |
| Public webinar or livestream | Generally public |
GDPR adds a second layer
A recording, its transcript and notes made from it are personal data about everyone in the meeting. The GDPR requires a lawful basis, a notice at the time, a retention period and a contract with every processor, and it applies in Germany as everywhere in the EU. Recording meetings under GDPR goes through those steps.
The two layers answer different questions. GDPR asks whether you may process the data at all and on what basis; legitimate interests may be the right basis for a work meeting. §201 asks whether the recording was authorised by the speaker, and in practice that means agreement. Asking at the start of the meeting deals with both.
In the workplace
Two workplace rules are worth knowing.
- Employee data. Processing employees' data is also governed by national rules, including the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), and German data protection authorities take a close interest in anything that looks like monitoring staff.
- Works councils. Under §87(1) no. 6 of the Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz), a works council has a right of co-determination over introducing technical systems designed to monitor employees' behaviour or performance. A notetaker rolled out across a company may fall within it. Talk to HR before any team-wide rollout.
When you are outside Germany and they are in it
If you are in the UK or the US and the other person is in Germany, German law may still be relevant to recording their words, and your own country's rules will apply to you as well. You do not need to settle which law wins if you follow the strictest one. How to ask for consent to record has wording in English; in German, "Ist es in Ordnung, wenn ich das Gespräch für meine Notizen aufzeichne?" is a plain way to ask.
A routine for calls with German participants
- Say in the invitation that you would like to record, and why.
- Ask again at the start of the call, and wait for an answer from each person.
- If anyone says no, do not record. Take notes by hand, or ask whether they would accept notes without audio.
- Do not pass the recording to anyone outside the meeting. Share the notes instead.
- Delete the audio once the notes are checked, unless you have a reason and a basis to keep it.
How Notey fits into this
Notey does not make a recording authorised; only the people in the meeting can do that. What it does is keep the recording in one place.
- Nothing is saved until you press Allow when a call starts. Recording is never automatic without a choice you made first, such as arming the next call.
- The audio stays on your Mac and is transcribed there by Apple's on-device speech recognition. It is not uploaded to be transcribed.
- AI notes send transcript text only, when you ask for them or when a meeting ends with write-ups turned on, to Notey's service and on to OpenAI as a processor. The privacy policy sets this out.
- Deleting a meeting removes its recording, transcript and notes, and with sync on, from every one of your Macs.
- The red dot and elapsed timer show whenever audio is being kept. They are visible to you, not to the call — which is exactly why §201 makes saying it out loud the part that counts.
Frequently asked questions
Is it illegal to record a phone call in Germany?
Recording someone's non-public spoken words without authorisation is an offence under §201 of the German Criminal Code, punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or a fine. The other person's agreement is what normally makes a recording authorised.
Does §201 apply to Zoom and Teams calls?
The section is about the non-public spoken word, whatever carries it. A work call among invited participants is the kind of conversation it is generally understood to protect. Whether a particular call is non-public is a question for a lawyer.
Is live transcription the same as recording under German law?
This guide does not answer that. It depends on how the text is produced and kept, and German lawyers and courts are the ones to ask. The workable approach is to treat a transcribing notetaker like a recorder and ask first.
Do I also need GDPR consent to record a meeting in Germany?
GDPR needs a lawful basis, which is not always consent. But because §201 already makes agreement the practical requirement for recording, asking at the start covers both.
What does a works council have to do with recording meetings?
In German workplaces with a works council, introducing technical systems that can monitor employees' behaviour or performance is subject to co-determination under the Works Constitution Act. A company-wide notetaker rollout may need its agreement.